IMINE REDUCTASES (IREDs) AND REDUCTIVE AMINASES (RedAms)

Imine reductases (IREDs) are NADPH-dependent oxidoreductases that catalyse the asymmetric reduction of imines to the corresponding chiral amines and have been one of our main research interest in recent years. We have carried out different studies on the discovery, characterisation, engineering and synthetic applications of these enzymes in collaboration with the group of Prof. Gideon Grogan from the University of York. Recently, we have found a sub-class of IREDs that display a remarkable reductive amination activity in some cases at near-stoichiometric ketone to amine ratios, prompting us to name them reductive aminases (RedAms) due to the importance of this transformation in synthetic organic chemistry. Besides the discovery and characterisation of these enzymes, we have also applied them in cascades along with different biocatalysts present in our in-house enzyme collection such as carboxylic acid reductases, transaminases, amine oxidases, alcohol dehydrogenases and alcohol oxidases.